VGB Scams Cloud Compliance

In the months since the VGB Act went into effect, retrofits have raised questions of costs and price gouging.

In the months since the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and
Spa Safety Act went into effect, problems have come up and
nationwide compliance is still far from complete.

While many reputable firms are busy retrofitting
commercial pools, experts say others are doing sloppy work
and/or overcharging for services.

“A lot of service techs are seeing money on the
table and wanting to get in on it, but they’re not
experienced and that’s where the trouble comes
in,” said Mike Stinson, owner of Mike the Poolman
in Folsom, Calif. “Or pool owners hire people who
aren’t licensed and they do the install
incorrectly, then a professional has to go in and fix
it.”

Such an atmosphere leaves room for price gouging, and
both Stinson and Monte Vajnar, co-owner of Sylmar,
Calif.-based American Pool & Safety Inc., have heard
of such tactics throughout California. But the problems run
deeper than issues of workmanship and alleged price
gouging.

Many public pool owners and operators are trying to
comply; however, others are ignoring the law for a variety
of reasons.

“Many, many pool owners are doing
nothing,” Stinson said. “They’re
calling the bluff of the inspectors because
they’ve heard there aren’t enough
[personnel] to go around.”

Tom Lachocki said he’s hearing that people are
still confused, and there’s a lack of confidence
in the government’s ability to enforce the law.
“A lot of ambiguity remains over who will enforce
the law or, even more sadly, what’s required for
compliance,” said Lachocki, who is CEO of the
National Swimming Pool Foundation in Colorado Springs,
Colo.

Plain, simple economics may be the biggest factor
that’s still causing headaches. Retrofits can
legitimately cost anywhere from several hundred dollars to
$5,000 or more if the renovation is more extensive and
includes system tests, engineer’s fees and the
like.

That seems to be the case in Phoenix’s Valley
of the Sun area, where officials say nearly 9,000
semipublic and public pools are affected by the law.

“The main complaint we’re hearing is
that many pool owners are stressed by the economy right
now,” said Kevin Chadwick, manager of the Water
and Waste Management Division, Environmental Services
Department. “Apartment owners and HOAs, condo
owners and neighborhood pool operators are very concerned
about the [retrofitting] expense, though if it improves
safety, some said they’re happy to
comply.”

Chadwick’s agency enforces Maricopa County
codes and state law — not federal law —
yet it has felt the pressure of heavy workloads as a direct
result of the VGB Act.

Requests for remodeling permits increased sevenfold from
June 2008 to June 2009, and he had to add another engineer
and assign four inspectors to full-time fieldwork.

In Boston, the 21 pools run by Boston Centers for Youth
& Families are in compliance now and the overall
price tag was more than $150,000. Most of the retrofits
were completed in four months by two professional companies
and were relatively simple, such as cover replacements. But
some were more involved and one included liner replacement,
said Pat McDonough, BCYF facilities manager.

“I understand how the law came into
effect,” McDonough said. “The loss of
life, you can’t put a price on it. But most
federal laws have a two-year window; this had only one
year.”